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Topeka's Human Relations Commission for the second month in a row has deferred action on an equality package promoted by Councilman Chad Manspeaker.

Board members indicated they wanted more time to process the two proposed resolutions, having received copies of one during Monday's 5:30 p.m. meeting. It became clear early on the commission would defer a vote until next month, but the body used the opportunity to ask preliminary questions of Manspeaker and city attorney Chad Sublet.

Sublet was directed to add definitions to the resolutions and provide copies to the board in advance of next month’s meeting.

Instead of being discouraged by the second continuation, Manspeaker was grateful for the discussion and care put into the decision. Open dialogue, he said, only improves the process.

"I'm happy to come back next month," he said. "I look forward to it. The important part for me is the process."

While it might not seem like a lot, the resolutions would accomplish a great deal for the people it applies to, Manspeaker said. The resolutions also would go a long way in demonstrating that Topeka is an “equality friendly” city, he said.

The two resolutions presented Monday would ban discrimination on a basis of gender identity in the city's employment and hiring practices and establish a domestic partnership registry. Manspeaker's third goal, to arrange for Topeka's government to provide benefits to same-sex partners of its employees, already is handled within existing policy, he said.

Current policy protects sexual orientation, so, according to Sublet's interpretation of the city's policy against unlawful employment practices, homosexual city employees already have a right to health benefits. Where that gets tricky, Manspeaker said, is when filing for those benefits with the health insurance company, which typically require proof of a relationship. That, he added, is where the domestic partnership registry would come into play.

To be included on the registry, partners would need to meet requirements that would include both:

■ Being Topeka residents age 18 or older.

■ Sharing a common, permanent residence.

■ Agreeing to be in a relationship of mutual interdependence.

■ Not being related by blood in a way that would prevent them from being married to each other in Kansas.

■ And neither person being married to, or part of a domestic partnership, with a third person.

The registry, Manspeaker said, would work the same for heterosexual couples in a committed relationship.

In addition to providing proof of a relationship for insurance purposes, the registry would give partners a voice in the hospital setting as well, human relations commissioner Stephanie Mott said. While the official recognition of the relationship doesn't confer any rights to domestic partners, she said, it is documentation a partner could use as proof of a relationship in the event someone were to deny the relationship existed. It doesn't happen often, she added, but she personally knows of two cases.

"It's not the document that creates that right," Mott said. "The document just says there is a relationship. It is the relationship that creates that right to having a voice."

Before the hourlong conversation on the proposals came to a close, discussion also turned to reinstating the quasi-judicial and investigative powers of the HRC. That always has been a part of his discussions with the body, Manspeaker said, but given the funding climate and his perception that other council members aren't willing to find the money, he wasn't going to press the issue along with the equality package. Should someone pick it up, he said, he would be more than happy to support it.

"Rather than sacrifice the progress we hoped to make here and trying to run with something larger, I would rather move forward with what we have and let this one sit for a while longer," Manspeaker said.

Mott noted the former setup "wasn't very good," adding that having a budget of $200,000 was unreasonable and unnecessary. Few complaints ever got to the level of litigation, she said.

Councilman Nathan Schmidt came to the meeting to show his support for the proposed changes.